Orleans Leg reappoints Ed Morgan as county rep on WROTB board

State Legislature changed voting power of 17 members, who all need to be reappointed

Ed Morgan

ALBION – Ed Morgan has been reappointed as Orleans County’s representative on the 17-member board of directors for Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. after the State Legislature stripped all 17 members from the board as part of the state budget approved May 2.

The state budget also implemented a new system of weighted voting based on the population size of 15 counties, and the cities of Rochester and Buffalo.

Morgan, a county legislator and retired Murray highway superintendent, has been the Orleans rep on the board for nine years. He also was serving as the vice chairman of the body until the members were all knocked off the board.

Morgan said many have already been reappointed by their home counties. But he is waiting for when the board will be reconvened.

The 17 members used to all have equal clout, but that will change in the new system of weighted voting.

The new system gives the 17 members a weighted tally of 96 votes. Orleans, one of the smallest counties in the region, gets only 1 vote or about 1 percent of the total. Previously each of the 17 members had a vote worth about 6 percent of the total.

The weighted vote breakdown includes: Erie County, 24 votes; Monroe, 20 votes; City of Buffalo, 10 votes; City of Rochester, 8 votes; Niagara, 8 votes; Chautauqua, 5 votes; Oswego, 4 votes; Steuben, Cattaraugus and Cayuga, 3 votes each; Livingston and Genesee, 2 votes each; Wyoming, Orleans, Seneca and Schuyler, 1 vote each.

Morgan said he prefers the old system, especially because the smaller counties had an equal seat at the table for the decision-making in running WROTB, which owns Batavia Downs, 12 OTB parlors and manages several EZ Bets at businesses around Western New York.

Batavia Downs turned in record profits last year, which boosted the amount returned to Orleans County to about $120,000, up from $35,000 a decade ago, Morgan said.

“Batavia Downs is doing fine,” Morgan said. “There is no emergency there.”

WROTB was faulted in an audit by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, where he said the organization’s leadership took $120,000 worth of sports and event tickets that were purchased by the company and diverted them for private use.

Morgan said there are stricter controls at WROTB. He said members no longer can get health insurance and their pay is capped at $4,000. Morgan doesn’t get a stipend from WROTB because he is appointed by the County Legislature and county legislators aren’t entitled to pay from WROTB for serving on the board.

Morgan said he enjoys being on the WROTB where he said there is great camaraderie among the members, despite different political affiliations.

“I don’t feel there is politics involved,” Morgan said about the board of directors. “We try to do what’s best for WROTB and our member counties and the cities of Rochester and Buffalo.”

Morgan is chairman of the committees for Batavia Downs and Buildings and Grounds.

His biggest concern with the shift to a weighted voting system is a small minority of members could meet and make decisions about WROTB without the majority consent of the board. For example, just three members from Erie, Monroe and Buffalo have 54 of the 96 votes and could meet and have a quorum and make decisions affecting the operations and leadership of the organization.